Restore on larger hard disk changed disk size

[kamiraa]

Originally Posted by GroverH

Would he get better results from the utilities if the drive were attached direct to controller rather than connected via usb?

Attachment 192291

Ok I followed the info found here :

http://forum.hddguru.com/hard-disk-d...ddb9ab9a088bb3

I reclaimed the 160 gb. Then I used the windows xp cd to format it. Its 160 gb now. OK . . . how do I image this using true image to get it to work right? Bootable?

[kamiraa]

Originally Posted by Brian K

kamiraa,

We are in unknown territory now. I'd try zeroing the HD with CopyWipe for DOS and then using MHDD and the Hitachi tool.

http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/copywipe.php#download

Fingers crossed.

http://www.hdat2.com/files/hdat2iso_4_53.zip software image HERE!


This worked for me and my friend from another forum that ran into the exact same problem

Q: Host Protected Area (HPA) vs. 28/48-bit LBA mode

A: There is a problem of incompatibility on some hard drives (e.g. Seagate) when you are using 48-bit command for removing Host Protected Area (HPA) created with 28-bit command.
48-bit command cannot remove HPA created with 28-bit command and vice-versa. Following solution is for disk supports 48-bit LBA mode only and if you have HPA greater than 127 GB.
Solution:

1. Power-on PC, boot and start HDAT2.
2. In 'SET MAX (HPA) Menu' select 'Set Max Address'. Change 'LBA mode' from 48 to 28-bit LBA mode and press 'S' key to set maximal address for 28-bit LBA mode (127 GB).
3. Power-off PC (Important !), power-on PC, boot and start HDAT2.
4. In 'SET MAX (HPA) Menu' select 'Set Max Address'. Leave the selected 48-bit 'LBA mode' Change 'LBA mode' from 28 to 48-bit LBA mode and press 'S' key to set maximal address for 48-bit LBA mode.
5. After restart you should get the full (native) capacity of hard drive.

[kamiraa]

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...a/fixedhd2.jpg

this is it fixed . . . now how to image it.

I have a 80 gig hd , a 160 gig hd, and an enclosure.

So either I need to keep the 160 in the enclosure and clone like that.

Or

Boot using a cd (since the 160 gig is formated with no OS) , and image it from the 80 gig in the enclosure. Any help would be great.

[Brian K]

kamiraa,

Thanks for your valuable contribution. It adds to our current knowledge to overcome this HPA problem.

There are many ways to clone a drive but you are in a special situation. My favourite way is to keep the 160 GB HD in the enclosure. Partition it into two partitions. Write an image of your 80 GB HD to the second partition. Now install the 160 GB HD in your laptop and from the boot CD restore the image from the second partition to the first partition. DON'T click Restore MBR and Track 0 for obvious reasons, outlined in this thread.

When finished you can clean up the partitions to your liking.

[kamiraa]

Il try that next. I booted using the true image software and cloned the drive. Again blue screen'd , and as soon as it blue screened it reverted back to 76.x gigs. When I use that hdat2 software I can get it back to 160, but as soon as it hits the windows loader screen, BAM back to 76.x gigs . This is a pain . . . The wife is not amused.

[Brian K]

kamiraa,

You have to zero LBA-3 before you remove the HPA. Whenever the HD is booted with the Dell LBA-3 present, the HPA is re-created. That's why restoring an image is better. You can choose not to restore LBA-3 by not restoring the MBR and Track 0. Whenever you clone the HD, you clone the Dell LBA-3.

[kamiraa]

Are you free on aim , msn , yahoo, any messager basically? Im formating now and want to clearify things, I been at this almost 30 hrs now. . .

[kamiraa]

Alright well I did what was suggested. I backed up the partition I needed (instead of the whole drive) and put it onto the new drive (drive g), I left drive f free. After the image was on drive G: I flipped out the harddrives and put the 160gb directly into the laptop (f drive and g drive) .

I ran the restore, it restored perfectly.

THENNN I rebooted, OH NOE!!! The damn www.dell.com I found it!!! I hit pause and took a pic

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...a/DSC03327.jpg

It started to try to run windows. Then it crashed with this :

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...a/DSC03324.jpg


I rebooted and went back into the bios to check what happend. It is back to 70 whatever gigs .

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...a/DSC03325.jpg

So I used HDAT2 and instantly after following the two steps it reclaimed the 160 gb back.

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...a/DSC03326.jpg

I ran windows with the 80 gig in and the 160 gig back in the enclosure and ran the sector tool to zero out LBA3. its Zero'd now. So hopefully the www.dell.com thing is gone

But how to fix the windows error and get it to boot??!?!?!?

[Brian K]

kamiraa,

Are you still getting the BSOD?

I'm not sure how this applies to you.

http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;297185

[kamiraa]

Ok this is what happened, I fixed everything, it sticks to 160 gb. But I guess back in the day I ran windows installer and I had two instances of windows on my computer , a installer, and then a XP PRO.

I did something back in the day to prevent the installer from starting and it defaulted to run xp pro.

Well now the image starts up and goes into a windows installer instead of windows. All the windows files are there. How do I fix this . Man what a headache. . .

[Brian K]

Originally Posted by kamiraa

But I guess back in the day I ran windows installer and I had two instances of windows on my computer , a installer, and then a XP PRO.

Did this happen before you made the image of the C: drive?

How did you fix the BSOD?

[kamiraa]

Ok I got it fixed. I let it write the Track0 and MBR, then I used that hdat2 program to reclaim the space. The I flipped out HD's ran windows. Erased LBA3 from the enclosure with the 160 gb. Then Finally I flipped the hd's back out and bam working . . . .

My stuff was kinda screwed up as it was. Ok now time to put in the Nvidia 7900 GTX into it

[Brian K]

Originally Posted by kamiraa

Ok I got it fixed.

I'm pleased you have beaten it.

[kamiraa]

Thanks this forum really helped , its good to just have a place to give everyone a hand.

[BrahmaDomTao]

Wow.
And thank you.
I got a question at the bottom... if you can help, I'll be most in debted. It has to do with the NEXT stage of this sort of thing -retaining MD functionality in hard drive upgrades (to bigger sizes)....

I came across this thread from Goodell's "HPA Problems When Upgrading Hard Disk" page (google search) ...I haven't had any issues yet, but when I first got my XPS I noticed something off in the reported size in the bios and then read about the hidden HPA partition and how the MD and restore deal all worked...

So first, I'd like to say thank you to everyone who did this the HARD WAY (or "entertaining" and "educational" way, as I have come to call it- lol)... -THANK YOU for your sweat, tears and frustration. You've saved me most of it, and a lot of other people.

2nd, typical that one has to do a search outside of Dell to deal with this. Big corporations just move on usually when there's too many problems. After looking on their website for this info (I'll stand corrected if anyone finds anything otherwise, and maybe even eat my shoe) and how to upgrade a notebook hard drive WHILE retaining Media Direct functionality, I discovered just about squat (something to the effect of; "turn on the computer, press install. If you have any problems contact a dell tech representative..." -of course, not only will you need to pay extra for this, but if you read this forum you possibly might be able to tell THEM how to fix the problem, eh?)

3rd Anyone here work for Dell? (LOL!)

4th...

I got a new SEAGATE HD (the 5400.3) and I want to put it in, of course... but I ALSO want to PRESERVE my media direct functionality.
QUESTION:IS IT POSSIBLE

How about keeping that Ctrl+f11 bit? (edit: found a link where it can be upgraded at least- see two posts below)

If so, how would anyone here go about it?

I have the install CD'/DVD's so no biggy there, but if we can't copy the HPA even when revealed, how can one trigger the MD function with the buttons without booting into the complete OS? It seems when one upgrades the HD to a bigger size one looses this function in the laptop, no matter what!!! I travel a lot and this little function actually seems to help just for media stuff (reading memory cards, watching DVD's, showing edited presentations)...I don't want to loose it!


Much thanks in advance.
-JP

[BrahmaDomTao]

p.s... I haven't looked at the MD 3 yet; essentially I would like to retain the MD functionality I currently have on my system, and the restore function of the Ctrl+f11 option for restoring my original (or updated) disk state... or something similar in case of a complete return/wipe/reset to a working OS at some point in the future... without loosing my MD functioning!

so two more questions:
1) Can we edit the actual DATA that says WHERE the HPA is located, for instance to tell it/moving it to the end of the drive on the HD upgrade? This would allow people with the MD 2 systems to simply clone their drives over after writting zeros to MBR, LBA-3 and then with a possible noting what the values were before they did that step, rebuild that whole function of the MD and HPA in some way possibly- as long as one could increase the size of the 2nd partition in this process (the thing we would essentially be changing with a HD upgrade in size), yeah?
2) Can we UPDATE the restore image that the recovery tool utilizes somehow when the user does the Ctrl+f11 restore- the point being to preserve the MD state which would be lost in a ghost/clone restore solution on a bigger HD...? (and what then is the easiest way to do this you think?)
(EDIT: See post below- found a way at least to do this with the same size HD! they were succcessful...)

3) IS there a simpler way of having true MD simple-OS functionality, coupled with the Ctrl+f11 restore ability on a NEW HARD DRIVE UPGRADE INSTALL in a partition that is mostly immune to OS viruses and problems and seems the most secure way of total recovery to a previous state (without draggin along DVD's or extra HD's or something else where we have the images saved)...?

What was Dell's answer to this problem besides discontinuing the MD 2 style and HPA? If/Can we upgrade to MD 3 and avoid this whole mess

Forgive me if I got some technical detail wrong.. I thought I'd never need to retain this stuff after Win98... LOL!

[BrahmaDomTao]

I found something on updating the Dell Ctrl+f11 recovery image (it seems) I will post below. I haven't tried it yet....They seemed to have success with it last year, so it might still apply to the MD 2 people...

the original link is : http://www.notebookforums.com/thread149197.html
Here's the text for the archives...
-JP
*****

Latest Update on: 9-11-06 - scroll down.

SUCCESSFULLY DONE......

UPDATE: success on a 9300 - full restore completed with customized image.
One of my Geeky cohorts and I have been working on a Theory and have had some success with it.

The Theory? Changing the Restore Partition size to hold a different Ghost image and using CTRL +F11 to invoke it.

We have accomplished everything except the actual ghosting portion due to installation issues with Symantecs GHOST, we had version 9, Ver. 9 will NOT work!!! You need Ghost 2003(ver or older to create the .gho files on the restore partition. Ghost 9 switched to the .V2i format and they are NOT compatible.

UPDATE: we got a hold of ghost 2003 DOS and were successful using that to create the .gho image. Acronis TrueImage will NOT work with the dell restore utility. you can use Acronis for DVD boot images but not with this utility project. Sorry folks, we tried it and the dell utility does not play nicely with it. Must be because the utility is a Symantec product.

We have confirmed that the CTRL+F11 will work AFTER you resize both the C drive and the restore partition. But we have not been able to kick off the image since we dont have one on the partition at all. still need to make it. I will update this thread as I get more info.

First off you need:

Non Destructive Partitioning software such as Partition Magic
Ghost 2003 or older (creates .gho files)
DSRFIX.zip - from our friends at www.goodells.net/dellrestore/
and a few hours to complete you project. thats it

OK

Next you completely install all the apps you want on your restore image and make sure everything is updated properly like windows updates, virus defs, anti-spyware defs blah blah blah, you get the point.

install partition software and ghost.

check the used space on C: write it down

unzip DSRFIX.zip and create the bootable CD -> boot into it

load up PTEDIT.exe

Change the DB partition to 0C (thats ZERO C) This enables windows to see the partition

reboot back into windows

if you check MyComputer you can now browse the contents of the Dell Restore Partition

Fire up you Partioning sodftware and shrink C: drive by the amount you need minus 4.6gb that the restore image already takes. not sure about compression used on the ghost files sorry
NOTE: this will require a reboot since you are resizing the currently active partition...

After the reboot crank up the partition software again and resize the restore partition to include all the unallocated space.

back up the restore partions image files: they are in the IMG folder and start with FI filenames. you should see 1 FI.gho and 1 or 2 FI00000*.xxx files back all of them up to a dvd.

delete the original restore image files, NOT THE FOLDER STRUCTURE.

Defrag your C drive

Create your Ghost image file of C:, make sure you name the image "FI" (no quotes)

place the FI.gho and any FI00000*.xxx files into the restore partitions /IMG/ folder

reboot to the DSRFIX cd

run PTEDIT -> change the 0C type back to DB, you will have to manually enter this then hit SAVE CHANGES as DB is not on the SET TYPES menu. It will work, try it a few times if it gives you problems. it took us 3 times for it to finally take the DB setting

Exit PTEDIT -> run DSRFIX /F

DSRFIX /F will fix the broken ctrl+f11 function and set the new partition sizes to the reference file.

reboot into windows -> verify that you cannot see the restore partition any longer

reboot and try to enter into the restore process by hitting CTRL+F11 during the boot.

This is all it takes... nothing really... YEAH RIGHT.

Useful and constructive critism is always welcome, rep as well, suggestions or ideas are invited. Thnaks to everyone here at the forums for helping us out, this is way of returning the favor.

DISCLAIMER:
Attempt this at your own risk, We take no responsibility for your attempts at this project, I am a Geek, My cohort is a geek, only geeks should attempt this project. If you are not geek, stay away, call DELL, cry, and wait for them to send you a new laptop. Sorry, had to be said.

With that done and over with, I hope this helps out a few of you. Good Day


UPDATE: 9-11-06

4 Partition Config.

The following is a Custom “CLEAN” setup procedure for using a four(4) partition hard drive in your Dell Notebook PC. This guide is a compilation of several procedures found either online or on NoteBookForums Website. I have modified my own procedure for the 3 partition installation and learned quite a bit from TRIAL BY FIRE. I even rendered my Notebook unbootable a few times in the learning process. If you use Logical Partitions, created with the Windows XP CD utilities, you will experience these as well.

Many thanks to the the GooDell family for their great work on the information provided at their website about the DSRCheck.exe and for the DSRFix utility.

Thanks too goes out to the mods of NoteBookForums for giving this thread a STICKY.

Also a special SHOUT OUT to Xcess21 for his work with Linux and Restoring CTRL + F11 to a NEW hdd. Awsome Bro.

I have not verified MEDIA DIRECT Functionality at this time and have done a bit of research and realize now that it may have some issues, such as damaging the Windows partition. I will try to work this out in the near future…

Resources:
Notebookforums.com
Blackviper.com – No longer with us – We miss you black viper!!!
Still can be seen at web.archive.org
Goodells.net
Various Linux sites – I a total Linux N0o6 ! ! ! !


PREPARATION

WARNING: Back up all data before continuing! Backup all your data NOW! This process uses destructive methods to achieve higher performance and restorability. Your data will be lost if you do NOT save it NOW.

Tools you will need:

WinXP SP2 CD
Ghost 2003
Partition Magic
dsrFix
a few black CD's or DVD's
A USB Key (thumb drive is useful as well)
Time!!!!
More Time!!!!
Lots o’patience!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Did you back up all your data yet?

1. Download all Drivers for your system….
• Burn then to CD/DVD…
o Use your favorite burning app such as NERO.
o Set them aside for now.

2. Obtain the Dell Windows Installation CD.
• If you do not have it. Use dell chat or call and request it, Guides on NBF on how to get them for FREE!!!

3. Obtain the DSRFIX.zip from Goodells.net
• Create (burn) the .iso creating the bootable CD.
• Set it aside for now.

4. Gather all of your desired applications that you want on your ghost image and available after the restore process.

5. Obtain Ghost 2003 and Partition Magic – MUST have Ghost 2003 or older!!!!!
• Newer versions of Ghost utilize a different file format that is NOT compatible with Dell System Restore.

6. Place DSRFIX boot CD into pc and boot to it.
• Hit F12 at bios load and select boot from CD.
• At prompt type
• Ptedit
• Look for the DB partition; change the “DB” to “0C” (zero C)
o This allows windows to see the partition
• Reboot into windows normally.

7. Install Ghost 2003 on your system.
• Delete the /IMG/FI.gho & any FI000000*.gho files.
o Or archive them by burning to DVD’s.
o The FILES… not the Folder Structure!!!!!
• Create a Ghost image of the partition.
o We will use this later to restore the proper formatting of the Restore Partition***** we need a ghost image of original (minus the image files)!!!!!
o If you create a bootable CD, we will not be booting from it in this guide. That use is not tested by me.
o The destination of the Bootable CD ghost image is pre-determined from the source system location, your new partition structure will not match and it is not recommended to boot from the Bootable Ghost CD image disks for this process.




Setup

8. Insert the Dell Windows XP CD into the CD-ROM, restart windows and boot from the CD by hitting F12 at the BIOS screen and selecting Boot from CD

9. Choose Install Fresh copy of Windows

10. Follow the prompts until you get to the Partition screen

11. We want to keep the Dell Utilities (47mb) partition, but delete all the others, should be two (2) on a standard system.

Point of NO RETURN – Data Destruction Imminent!!!!!!!!

13. Go ahead and select the C: Partition and hit “D” then “L” to confirm.

14. Do the same for the other FAT32 (3-5GB) partition, this is your System Restore Partition.
• Don’t worry, we backed up the contents to a CD, remember!!!
• You can skip this step if you want to make your Restore Partition the fourth Partition on the drive… no big deal.
• Deletion of this partition is included in this guide for completeness.

15. Now we should have only 1 partition left and its 47MB in size… this is perfect leave this partition alone!!!! - do NOT delete this partition.

The following section is for a 100GB HDD, you can adjust your sizes as you see fit.

16. It turns out that my installation ghost image is about 11.5GB, so I will need to ensure that my Restore Partition is at least 12.5 GB to allow for overhead.
• We will not be creating the Restore Partition using the WinXP tool.
• This tool would make Logical Partitions which are a mess later.

17. I also want a 50GB DATA drive.
• Again, we will not create this now.
• Just info for figuring out how big to make our Windows Partition.

18. We will not create these at all using the Windows XP CD, WinXP create Logical Partitions and they will not work very well with the Dell System Restore, I found this out the hard way!!!!

19. We will only create the OS Partition with the WinXP CD, the others we will create with Partition Magic due to its greater flexibility and ease of use.

20. So here is what my drive ends up looking like:

Partition 1 – 47MB Dell Utilities
Partition 2 – 30GB Windows.
Remaining – 69GB Unallocated space

****Note: there is another HIDDEN partition that holds the diagnostics so don’t get too uptight if the numbers do not add up like you think they should.

21. Now we can go ahead and finish the install of the OS as you see fit.

22. Once the OS is done, make sure you install the Drivers in this order for optimal performance:

• Remember we burned them to a CD, right? Hope you follow directions well!

Intel Chipset
Ricoh Chipset
Graphics Driver
Audio
Modem
NIC’s -
Wired Ethernet
Wireless Ethernet
Bluetooth
Bluetooth Patch – if needed
Any/All others in any order

• Performance mileage may vary depending on your setup and driver versions.
• Some have reported to install Dell Notebook System Software first, but this is not required and I have no tests to confirm this so I have not included it here.

23. Run Windows Update and ensure you get the .NET Framework 2.0 for use with Media Player 10/11.
• This will take awhile since there are over 60 updates as of this printing that will need to get DL’d. Hope you have a fast connection!

24. Direct X update… check your version using START>RUN>dxdiag
Cross reference this online with MS to make sure you are up to date.

25. Install Partition Magic
• Create a new partition using the unallocated space after C:
o This will be your DATA drive.
o For those that kept the Restore Partition intact, this option would read something like: After C: but before “x”.
• Use NTFS and make it a PRIMARY partition, set the size to 50GB.
o Label it as you see fit.
Apply

26. Partitions should be like this:
Part 1: 47MB (Dell Media Direct) FAT
Part 2: Windows Installation NTFS
Part 3: DATA drive NTFS
Part 4: Unallocated

*****We have to leave the rest UNALLOCATED for GHOST 2003 to make the image properly… It requires a UNUSED Primary Partition for the GHOST Process. We will create the Restore Partition after GHOSTING the Windows Partition.******

27. Close Partition Magic

28. Install all your appz now, don’t forget anything, AV software, malware protection, MS Office or a clone, Quicktime, .pdf reader, flash, IM app, filesharing app, Codecs, DVD software, etc.

29. Adjust your startup options for your apps using START>RUN>MSCONFIG.
This will help keep those apps from starting processes on system startup.
• Other tools such as StartupCPL or Sysinternals own AutoRuns app are nice for this job.

30. Tweak your system in accordance with your favorite tweaking guide.

31. Adjust wallpaper, font, theme, blah, blah, blah to your taste.

32. Install Ghost 2003 or older.

33. Defrag your C: drive (the partition with Windows and your apps installed)

34. Start GHOST 2003, create the image of your drive with the settings you want, compression, number of file segments, etc.
• Save the image to the DATA drive for now just to make sure it will finish the ghost process.
• Name the Image FI.gho ( that’s Fox – India)

35. Run it, take a walk, and go for some ice cream, whatever… it’s going to be a while!
• OK we are back.

36. Now check your .gho files and make sure they do not exceed the available space on the Restore partition and that you have some overhead free space available too.

37. Start Partition Magic
• Create a new partition using the little bit of unallocated space left.
o This will be our Restore Partition.
o Make sure you have enough available space to fit your new Ghost Image and a bit left over for overhead.
• Use FAT32 and make it a PRIMARY partition
Label can be blank; I named mine for quick ID.
• Apply Changes

38. Partition series should now look like this:
• Part 1: 47mb Media Direct
• Part 2: Windows (mine was 30 GB)
• Part 3: DATA (mine 50 GB)
• Part 4: DellRestore (mine was 13 GB)

39. We now have the HDD partitioned finally. Now let’s restore the folder/partition structure to the DSR Partition.

40. We are going to need the DOS Ghost utility off our ghost image from earlier.

41. Place the CD Ghost image of the DSR partition in the CD-ROM.
• Double Click the image file, Ghost Explorer should open up.
• Click the little triangle/arrow next to image titles in the navigation pane.
• Right-Click the Drive icon labeled .
o Select
o Point the EXTRACT TO: browser to the new DSR Partition.
• Click OK

42. Re-Boot the computer to the DSRFIX DOS CD.
• Launch PTEDIT
• You should see all four partitions.
o DE = Dell Utilities
o 07 = NTFS - windoze
o 07 = NTFS - data
o 0C / DB = Fat32x / Dell System Restore (DSR)

43. We need to make the DSR partition the “ACTIVE” partition.
• Change the “00” in the second column to “80” for the 0C partition.
• Change the “80” to “00” on the 2nd partition.
o This will make the system think the DSR is the “C:” drive.
• Close PTEDIT

44. Push the POWER button to turn your system off.

45. Boot to the DSRFIX CD again.
46. At the A: prompt, Type “C:” (no quotes)
• You should now have a C: prompt.
• Type “DIR” (no quotes)
• You should see the same DSR folder structure that you saw in the Ghost Explorer Window.
• Type “CD Bin” (no quotes)
• You now have a “C:/BIN/” prompt
• Type “RECOVER” (no quotes)
• This will kick off the DOS based GHOST utility.
• Click OK
• Click Local>Partition>From Image
• Replace your DSRFIX CD with the Ghost image CD.
• In the LOOK IN drop down, select your CD/DVD drive.
• Click the Ghost image in the lower list.
• Click OK, CAREFUL!!
• When you get to the “SELECT DESTINATION PARTITION, select the FAT32 partition with the ID of 0C (Zero-C)
• Click OK
• Click YES
• Sit back and relax………
• Click Reset

47. Reboot to the DSRFIX CD again, launch PTEDIT.
• Change the “80” tag back to the 2nd partition, make sure the 0C/DB partition is reset back to “00”.
• Reboot to Windows.

48. Move the .gho files from your DATA drive to the DSR Partitions directory.
• Ensure you grab all of them if you made multiple files.

49. That’s it for windows!

50. Reboot the PC back to the DSRFIX CD.

51. At the prompt, type
• PTEDIT
o The 4th partition should read 0C (zero C)
o Click in that box and change it to “DB” (no quotes)
o Click Save Changes
o Click Yes/OK
o Click the “x” in the upper right corner to exit.
• Type “dsrfix /pbr4” (no quotes)…………….
o This will tell you information with the dell restore as it is now.
o You will most likely see some “ALERTS”, this is OK, and we are looking to make sure that we do NOT have any “FATAL” errors.
o You will need to research any FATAL errors prior to continuing.
o If we have all GOOD/INFO/ALERT messages then
o Type “dsrfix /pbr4 /f” (no quotes) - (/f will make the utility write changes to the drive)
o *** More switches are available at the GooDells site.
o Follow the prompts to allow for changes to be made.
o Once complete, push power button to restart system

52. Boot into Windows and verify everything is OK in Windows Land.

53. Restart the machine and hit CTRL+F11 at the black screen with the Blue DELL Bar at the top.

54. System Restore process should start, continue with the restore process completely to verify your restore image.

55. Congratulations on your success.

If it broke, ooops, try it again or fix those errors.. good luck.

NOTE: There have been reported issues with the Boot.ini files, HAL.dll, NTLDR and such with other processes. Keep trying, you will get it right. But most of those were due to using Logical Partitions instead of Primary Partitions.

Just remember, do NOT use Logical Partitions, only PRIMARY Partitions for the DSR and OS. I have gotten Logical Partitions to work, but it is messier than the process here so I will not be providing this tutorial.

Do NOT create more than 1 partition using the Windows CD.

Download all drivers BEFORE formatting your drive.

Backup all data prior to attempting this process!!!!!

Backup all data prior to attempting this process!!!!!

Backup all data prior to attempting this process!!!!!

Backup all data prior to attempting this process!!!!!

Backup all data prior to attempting this process!!!!!

[wshan123]

I got the exact same problem as you did. My HD is samsung HM160HI sata. The worse thing is, even the harddrive utility from Samsung won't recognize it

Originally Posted by Brian K

vlad48,

I understand WinXP shows the new C: drive as 36 GB. In Disk Management, do you see any Unallocated Space after the C: drive? Do you have Partition Magic?

What brand of computer do you have? How old? Desktop or Laptop?
Latest BIOS?
Any jumpers on the new HD that could limit its size?
Was there a HPA on the 40 GB HD?

What does RHPA report as the Native Maximum LBA address? How about RHPA on the 40 GB HD?

[Brian K]

wshan123,

Have a look at the HDAT2 tool.

http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showt...7401&page=4#77

You may need to reset your 28/48-bit LBA mode.

Let us know if it helps.

[BrahmaDomTao]

I've followed the big guide above, 1st for putting a new image in the HPA, then for installing a new "clean" hard drive.

Everything works perfectly, including the backup image -I tested it on the new drive, but without the 2nd main Data partition... It would APPEAR to me that the tools (such as DSRFIX) can view and check the partition tables, with the switch, but that it would be BEST, in most cases, to avoid problems, to simply have the "data" partition be a PART of C:\ (though NOT a logical partition!!!) and AFTER imaging and making a ghost and all that, using something like partition magic to make a post-image-restore partition.

Meaning: if you WANT a 2nd partition above and beyond the 1) Dell Utility 2) C:\ root 3) DSR images 4) MDirect on a NEW hard drive, then make that 2nd partition only after a "ctrl+f11" restoration.

This has worked for me: after backing everything up, making an image, fixing the partition tables, getting the ctrl+f11 working again, and hiding my partitions, if I do a complete ctrl-f11 restore, then once the system has booted up with a the fresh image, THEN I open partition magic and quickly split up my C:\ partition with a 2nd data partition using partition magic.

works great.

I'm working on right now trying to understand how that HPA was created and if someone WAS able to make it on the original HD, I ought to be able to eventually return that HPA to my new drive- why not? It seems like a great place to STORE that image file- as it's protected from almost everything except, from what I know, a macros virus.

Dell started changing this whole process thank heavens. I have NOT tested the MEdia Direct function yet either, still waiting on the installation disks. I have an off-line image though so I can mess around and return my drive back to it's original state if I screw up or MD messes up my C:\ or something... From what I see running Media direct with a data partiton will simply make the ghost image (DSR) partiton be labeled as unallocated...

We'll see. I'll be working on it this week.

For everyone: the guide DOES work- print it out, read it thouroughly, highlight the main sections in steps and sit down and do it. After installing all my software it onlny took me the morning to get it all done on the new drive- and really, it took no longer than normal for a new hard drive and OS install.

THANKS!!!

[BrahmaDomTao]

oh,

p.s.
A FAST way to get the above new HD kicked off, is to JUST GHOST THE OLD OPERATING SYSTEM PARTITION TO AN IMAGE and put THAT new image on a new partition on the new HD.

I put 3 partitions on my NEW HD using partition magic, one for the Dell Utilities (47mb, first place on the new HD) then an OS partiton then a temp partition for the operating system partition image.

I simply plugged the new hd in after that and booted to ghost and put the image to the 2nd partition, made it "80" (bootable) using ptedit and booted up.

Then I adjusted things with partition Magic and did the rest of the above.
Everything works fine- tested too (gulp- yeah I wiped my drive and then ctrl+f11 to see if it worked- BINGO!!! everything back to normal!!!

YAY!


I'll post how I get the Media Direct functioning again. I have MD2 and MD 3.3 so we'll see what happens...
Oh- and forgive me if I am steering this thread off-topic. I'm going to check that HDAT2 tool

http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showt...7401&page=4#77

and see if I mess around or mess something up if I can figure out how to return it to a functioning drive with the correct info on it...
It seems to me if one messes up some of the core drive information, the trick is to DL some form of a low-level formatting tool- (something you can get into the basic drive information) and just reset it all. once I make my new image and back it up I will install my OLD image to me new drive, shortening up it's supposed capacity and try out some of these low-level formatting tools to see how to quickly reset that information back to a working state for the average user.

It wasa lot easier than I thought, so if it seems intimidating, don't worry- just write things down- like the numbers and what collums they are in and such info...
It's a lot easier than it sounds- and worse case is you won't be any further behind than you already are if you messed up your drive accidentally to begin with!

Thanks for the link!
the HDAT2 tool.

http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showt...7401&page=4#77

[BrahmaDomTao]

Yeah there's some problems between the 48/28 Stuff. Outside my expertise (if I have any at all) but I DO have a seagate 5400.3 180gb Sata in here. I am scared to experiment right now with THIS deep of stuff, cause I don't understand it yet, but maybe later this week, for fun, after I read some more- after all, worse that can happen is I render my almost impossible to replace in this 2nd-3rd world country HD non-functioning... lol!

It's a good thing Dell changed Media Direct stuff- really, we customers don't need to be doing this anymore!!! Dell ought to offer this service (fixing messed up drives) either free of charge or for a nominal fee- a minimum fee, BEING THAT THEY DID NOT WARN CUSTOMERS THAT THEY DID SOME FREAKING FUNKY stuff with their HD's that if you do what EVERYONE ELSE DOES when they upgrade a HD, actually will DESTROY almost your new hard drive!! That's just messed up. Soooo

Just do NOT ghost your entire old drive or it will write out EXACTLY your old hd onto the old, and hide all the rest of the space in a HPA. If you image each partition it's ok... and then using Goodell's DSRFIX and PTEDIT ...You ought to be back and running. you have my empathy, those of you who have to do this even more intense drive fixing stuff. *gulp* Might REALLY be simpler to just RMA the drive, eh? And THEN start from scratch again- (as long as you can RMA it)!

Here's a link to Goodell's tools, I think...
http://www.goodells.net/dellrestore/fixes.htm

[rayny2e]

Originally Posted by E1705guy

Brian and everybody,

It worked like a charm. The only thing is I don't have the use of the Media Direct button. When I press the Media Direct button it just boots my computer as normal.
So anyone else who wants to clone their old drive to a new larger drive can do it by using this procedure without going through the grief that was posted here in this thread.
My laptop is a Dell Inspiron E1705, Media Center Edition 2005 with Media Direct 2. I had a 60GB drive that I cloned onto a 120GB that was installed in an external USB case. Here is the procedure:

1. Download Roadkil's Sector Editor from: http://www.roadkil.net/diskutils.html

2. Download Acronis True Image 10 (I used the trial version).

3. Using Sector Editor, zero LBA-3 on the old drive.
Double click sectedit.exe, In the Select Disk box choose Physical 0 and click Open. (DON’T choose any of the drive letters). Use the arrows at the bottom right to find LBA-3. It should take 3 clicks, Click Edit, Zero Data. Now you should see all zeroes. Click File, Save Sector. Close Roadkil. Double click sectedit.exe again and confirm that LBA-3 has been zeroed. (See post #27 & 32 above)

4. Open the Acronis TI program and in the PICK CATEGORY choose MANAGE DISKS and CLONE DISK then select AUTOMATIC and follow the Disk Clone Wizard from here. The cloning took me about 36 min. (I sugest reading Chapter 13 of the users manual)

5. After the cloning I rebooted to see if everything was still OK and then turned off the computer and removed the old drive from my laptop and removed the new cloned drive from the USB case and installed it into my laptop.

Hi, I Have a Question and Hope someone can help me out. I Have an E1705 with Media Center 2. I Followed all the Insructions above and now have a Larger working Hard drive. Only thing i did different was to Boot into Dell's ISO Disc for Media Center Reair of MBR. Everything seems to be working Normally except when i Open SECEDIT to "LOOK" For LBA-3 after cloning, It is All Zeroed Out. My question is Where is my NEW Media Center MBR Located NOW, How do i find it? Also a bigger question is..IF i want to Clone From THIS new drive to a Newer, Bigger Drive...What will happen,since i don't have ANYTHING but Zero's in LBA-3 now? I'm afraid it's "somewhere else" on my Hard drive but NOT sure how to find it or How to approach cloning ANOTHER new Drive,since I've already Done it once

[Brian K]

Originally Posted by rayny2e

My question is Where is my NEW Media Center MBR Located NOW,

rayny2e,

It's gone. When you zeroed LBA-3.

Are you saying that MediaCenter still works?

IF i want to Clone From THIS new drive to a Newer, Bigger Drive...What will happen,since i don't have ANYTHING but Zero's in LBA-3 now?

No problems at all. You now have a "normal" HD.

[rayny2e]

Hi and Thanks for the Reply. I Guess when I Zeroed out LBA-3, It took away the Media Direct Function. I looked closer at what happens NOW when i have The Computer OFF and press the Media Direct Button. I Get The Media Direct Splash Screen Then It Boots into Windows,Then continues Through Windows and Brings me To a Screen to Setup Media Center. I thought the Purpose Of Media Direct was to boot Right straight into The Media Direct? I verified my LBA-3 is ALL ZEROS...Is there any way to Recover The Media Direct and restore the necessary Code to LBA-3? I Guess i messed up,but i followed the instructions Closely. Yes my hard drive size is correct, but I lost The Media Direct. I'm guessing NOW that (maybe) i should have left the LBA-3 Alone and deleted LBA-0 ?? I Think that would have been re-created or could have been restored?? Not really sure anymore. I spent too many hours reading...Soo, IF i were to Clone From THIS Present Hard Drive (with Zeroed out LBA-3) I Should Have No Issues or Problems in The Future? Thanks again for ANY replies..